


A Tagging on Ao3 Guide

by SugarsweetRomantic



Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Original Work
Genre: Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Gen, Guides
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:56:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29944821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugarsweetRomantic/pseuds/SugarsweetRomantic
Summary: This is a guide on how Ao3's tags work, why some creators are listed under their IRL name, how to tag, and what the difference is between A & B, A | B and A/B.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 41





	A Tagging on Ao3 Guide

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Guide to Tagging on AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28080729) by [lieyuu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lieyuu/pseuds/lieyuu). 



> This is an Author's Note! There's no need to have your notes in the summary (unless you think it's something people need to see before opening the fic) or fic itself, because Ao3 has this at the beginning and end of each chapter.

Hi!

My name is Belle, and I've been in fandom for over a decade and a half. 

Recently, I encountered a guide on tagging in the DreamSMP fandom category by lieyuu, which I thought was very good. And since there still seems to be confusion about how Ao3's tagging system works in the Hermitcraft fandom as well, I thought I'd be so forward to write one myself. It's probably not as extensive as theirs, so I would highly recommend you also check it out! It's linked in the Author's Note at the top, or you can just click [this link](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28080729/chapters/68798643) instead if you'd like. 

**Rating**

Ao3 uses a rating system that looks similar to TV or movie ratings, though it's slightly different. There are 5 possible ratings you can give your fic. Please take care to rate your fic correctly to make sure everyone's Ao3 experience is the best it can be. The ratings are:

  * **Not Rated**
    * This means you didn't want to put a rating on your fic. t will be treated as ‘Explicit’ by Ao3 (i.e. you’ll be asked if you’re sure you want to proceed before opening it), but the fic itself has no expectations attached to it. People will often assume it's at least a Mature fic, though that doesn't _have_ to be the case. This rating also works for things like oneshot collections, since those might contain oneshots of varying ratings.
  * **General Audiences**
    * This is for everyone and anyone. Basically, you should be able to read it to a child.
  * **Teen and Up**
    * This fic is for anyone over the age of thirteen. Reasons to change a fic's rating from G to T could be swearing, innuendos, kissing (depending on how graphic it is), or any concept you fear anyone under the age of 13 might not grasp.
  * **Mature**
    * This fic is for adults. They will contain adult themes, such as intercourse or violence, but they are not explicit or graphic depictions.
  * **Explicit**
    * This fic is for adults. They contain adult themes, such as intercourse or violence, and may be explicit or graphic depictions. This is also where Porn without Plot/Plot what Plot fics go.



The line between Mature and Explicit can be vague. Use additional tags and warnings, and try to use your best judgement.

**Archive Warnings**

These are fairly self-explanatory, but I'll go over them nonetheless.

  * **Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings**
    * This means the author doesn't want to use the warnings. One or more might apply -- proceed at your own risk. This is often used by authors who fear the warning may spoil the plot.
  * **Graphic Depictions of Violence**
    * The violence depicted is graphic. That's about it.
  * **Major Character Death**
    * A major character dies. Please not that the additional tag 'Minor Character Death' also exists. 
  * **No Archive Warnings Apply**
    * Nothing else mentioned here applies. This fic still might be sad or have darker themes, but take a look at the Additional Tags to find out. Please only use this tag if you are 100% certain the other warnings do not apply.
  * **Rape/Non-con**
    * Rape or non-consensual activities are present in this fic. This includes forced kissing, graphically described sexual harassment, sexual assault, et cetera. There are milder tags, such as 'Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con' in case it's only mentioned fleetingly or not described graphically.
  * **Underage**
    * Descriptions or depictions of characters under the age of eighteen/the legal age of consent being involved in sexual acts are in this fic. 



**Categories**

These show which types of relationships are present in your fic.

  * **M/M**
    * Two men in a romantic or sexual relationship.
  * **F/M**
    * A man and a woman in a romantic or sexual relationship.
  * **F/F**
    * Two women in a romantic or sexual relationship.
  * **Gen**
    * No romantic or sexual relationships (or extremely background ones). Friendship fics go here!
  * **Multi**
    * A relationship involving multiple partners _or_ multiple kinds of relationships. Either applies.
  * **Other**
    * Other relationships. These often include queerplatonic relationships or relationships involving nonbinary people.



**Fandom tags**

The fandom tags are used to show people what fandoms your characters are from. In the case of Hermitcraft, it's almost always 'Hermitcraft (RPF)'. If, for example, you would also like to include the Dream SMP, because your fic also contains Tommyinnit, you'd add 'Video Blogging RPF' to your fandom tags, as the Dream SMP doesn't have its own fandom tag. 

Relationship tags such as 'Grumbo' or 'Team ZIT' or 'False/Cleo' do not go in the fandom tags.

**Relationship tags**

This is where you show your potential readers which relationships are present in your fic. They are usually formatted in a way similar to 'Firstname Lastname/Firstname Lastname'.

A slash '/' indicates a romantic relationship, whereas an ampersand '&' indicates a platonic relationships. So, 'Oliver Brotherhood/Charles | Grian' means a romantic relationship between Mumbo and Grian, but 'Oliver Brotherhood & Charles | Grian' means they're just friends. 

(The vertical bar '|' in the tag for Grian means 'A.K.A. - Also Known As'.)

You can stack as many characters in one relationship tag as fits in the character limit. However, you’ll probably also have the option of a “Character A & Everyone” tag, which may or may not redirect to anything, but is cleaner for the sake of your readers. 

Additionally, there are some other markers you can use on relationship tags. These are all tags that can go in either Relationship or Additional Tags; all that changes is how it redirects. In the relationships category, it will redirect to said relationship’s general tag, which isn’t necessarily true for tags in the additional category. 

  * background Character A/Character B 
    * This relationship is present in the background, but the fic is not focused on them, and doesn’t devote a lot of time to them. This is helpful for people who do not want to see this ship at all and can thus filter it out, while also preventing this fic from showing up in the general A/B tag so that people who are looking for A/B-centric works do not have to scroll past it.
  * mentioned/implied Character A/Character B 
    * This relationship was mentioned or implied, but may not necessarily be active in the background of the fic.
  * one-sided Character A/Character B 
    * This one is fairly self-explanatory.



Once you've put down one variant of a relationship tag, you don't have to type in others as well. So, if you've already tagged 'Impulsesv/Zedaph', you don't also have to add 'Zedaph/impulsesv'. Ao3 relationship tags are alphabetical by last name, so Natalie **Arnold** comes before Oliver **Brotherhood**. 

Please not that the tag 'No Romantic Relationship(s)' is one you can choose as well!

The Hermitcraft and Video Blogging RPF relationship tags can look a bit different though, because not all of our characters _have_ first and last names. So...

**Character tags**

In general, Ao3 prefers to use a creator's full given name as their Ao3 character tag, such as 'Oliver Brotherhood' for Mumbo, because usernames can change, whilst given names cannot. (In the case of Grian, technically, he would be 'Charles | Xelqua | Grian', as an example.) This is why Mumbo's and Stress' character tags are their full names, and they will not be changed.

However, when the creators' names are not known, or not known in full, the '|' can be used. As an example, Scar's tag is 'Ryan | Goodtimeswithscar'. 

For creators whose names are a complete mystery, their username will be used instead. Take rendog 'rendog (Video Blogging RPF)' as an example.

If you put a character tag in the character tag field, your fic will show up when someone filters for fics containing that character. If someone's really nothing more than a side character, consider putting them in the additional tags instead.

Edit, with thanks to _Waterfall_ (9 March 2021, 23:15 CET): _since AO3 is erroneously classifying the Hermitcraft characters as their creators (fic writers write about Grian and Mumbo who live in Hermitcraft, not Charles and Oliver on a road trip around England for instance) fic writers are trying to tag only the character names. The only way this practice might change is if the correct character tags are used by enough writers to be classified by the tag wranglers (hopefully)._

**Additional tags**

Additional tags can contain anything and everything you'd like to add. Some people (including me) like to ramble in their tags. Common additional tags might include 'Porn without Plot/Plot What Plot', 'Angst', 'Fluff', and 'Alternate Universe'. 

There are a few particular ones with specific meanings:

  * 'Dead Dove: Do Not Eat': This fanwork contains tropes or elements that may be deemed morally reprehensible without explicitly condemning the sensitive aspects.
  * 'Not Beta Read' (also: 'not betaed we die like (insert something here)': This fic was not edited by anyone other than the author.



**Canonizing tags**

Tags need to be used by three separate authors before Ao3's tag wrangling team can start to consider them for canonization (making them a tag you can filter works on). The Video Blogging RPF (which is Hermitcraft's parent fandom) fandom is huge, and there aren't a huge amount of tag wranglers when compared to the amount of content being produced. Please remember to be patient with the tag wranglers, and to make sure the tag you're trying to use doesn't already exist in different words. Other than that: have _fun_ with tags!

**Conclusion**

This has been a super quick guide, and way less extensive than the one it was inspired by. Thank you for reading if you've come this far, and let me know if you have any more questions!

X Belle

**Author's Note:**

> This is an end note, just like the Author's Note at the beginning!


End file.
